1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to tenon cutters and more specifically it relates to a tenon maker for making a cylindrical-shaped tenon on a wood end utilizing the power of a router.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Five thousand years ago, the throne of Egyptian king Tutankhamen was assembled using mortise-and-tenon joints pinned in place with dowels. Ancient Greek shipwrights assembled hulls by drilling holes and cutting mortises in abutting planks, inserting a drilled plate in the mortises, and driving a dowel home through slightly offset holes to draw the planks tight. The draw-tenon, as this joint is known, is now used only by a small group of traditional artisans, mainly in post-and-beam timber-framing and in the reproduction of historical furniture.
While it can be appreciated that tenon cutters have been in use for years, typically modern tenon cutters are comprised of power tenon cutters, woofer tenon machines, Tenonizer, and router jigs.
Some components of the draw-jointing process have been mechanized. Mortise-and-tenon joints, for example, were originally cut entirely by hand.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 224,752, issued Feb. 17, 1880 to White, provides a machine for producing tenons of elliptical or other variable forms. The tenoning machine includes cutters to which variable motions are imparted by means of a sliding rod operating at a right angle to the line of the sliding motions of the cutter-heads. The tenoning machine also comprises a connected cam and a key, by which movements of the cutter-heads are controlled and the cutters caused to advance and recede to and from the piece of wood or bolt to be tenoned.
Prior art U.S. Pat No. 737,450, issued Aug. 25, 1903 to McNaul, shows a tenoning machine for making tenons in one or both ends of timber adapted for use in shoring mines and for other purposes. The machine embodies a carriage adapted to automatically load itself with a log and equipped with a dog which at one end of the machine is operated automatically to clamp the log, while at the other end of the machine the dog is released in like manner and prior to the discharge of the finished log from the machine. As the loaded carriage moves through the machine the log is presented to a gang of four saws, which operate in two directions to remove slabs from the ends of the log, after which the carriage is rocked or turned in a way to give a quarter turn to the log. The continued movement of the carriage presents the log to a second gang of saws, which operate on the partially finished log to remove the other pieces or slabs therefrom and to complete the tenons on the ends of the log. The carriage is now reversed or restored to its initial position, and as it approaches the delivery end of the machine the dog is retracted and finally the log, with completely formed tenons on its ends, is discharged automatically.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 1,844,057, issued Feb. 9, 1932 to Buchan, claims a tenoning machine from which tenons may be quickly and accurately cut on the ends of large timbers such as are commonly employed in the building of cribs, docks and framing.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,167,082, issued Jul. 25, 1939 to Morris, describes a tenon cutting device that may be applied to a work bench. The device provides means by which a board or the like may be held and an end thereof cut to form a tenon which may be a straight tongue or of dovetail formation.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,715,924, issued Aug. 23, 1955 to Norris, discloses a manually controlled device for turning integral dowels. The device is adapted for use in connection with a table-type circular saw unit, for turning an integral dowel on the end of a wooden work piece, as for example, on the end of a chair leg or chair rung.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,735, issued Jun. 10, 1986 to Wirth, Jr., indicates an apparatus for woodworking which functions include boring, mortising, tenoning, forming dovetails, duplicating a three dimensional object, and the like. The invention embodies means for providing movement of a workpiece in a horizontal plane or X-Y direction, and means for providing vertical cutting tool movement.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,089, issued Feb. 27, 1996 to Lubbe, puts forth a mortise and tenon jig for a router device that includes a base structure; and a mounting member joined to the base structure, being attachable to a support structure such as a table. The invention further includes first spaced apart parallel elongated guiding members; second spaced apart parallel elongated guiding members; a router support member for operatively supporting a router device; first sliding members attached to the second guiding members for slidingly supporting these relative to the first guiding members; and second sliding members slidingly mounted on the second guiding members. An attachment member is provided for attaching the router support member to the second sliding members. Clamping plates are slidably joined to the base structure. Stop means for limiting movement of the first and second sliding members are provided. Finally a tenon template support member is connected to the second sliding members; and a template guide member for moving along a tenon profile template is joined to the template support member.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,463, issued Jun. 23, 1992 to Grisley, concerns a jig for guiding a power tool that has a cutter bit to cut joint members in workpieces. The jig includes a base frame having a tool support surface and a workpiece support surface. A pair of guide arms are releasably attachable to the power tool. A track is formed on the tool support surface adapted to slidably receive one of the guide arms. A template is releasably securable to the tool support surface having guide surfaces engagable by the other of the guide arms. The track and template co-operate to guide movement of the power tool atop the tool support surface. A clamping system is provided for securing workpieces to the workpiece support surface in a position to be cut by the power tool slidably supported on the tool support surface and guided by the track and the template to provide a joint member in one workpiece and a complementary joint member in another workpiece.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,841, issued Jun. 25, 1991 to Totten, illustrates a table that includes a support member having a work surface with an opening extending through the support member and the work surface. A first mechanism for mounting a router with the support member is provided. A router bit extends generally vertically through the opening and beyond the work surface. A second mechanism for mounting the router with the support member is provided so that the router bit extends generally parallel with the work surface. A mechanism for adjusting the dimension between the router bit and the work surface when the router is mounted with the second mechanism is also provided. The support member has a recess for receiving at least a portion of the router bit below the level of the work surface when the router is mounted with the second mechanism.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,741,370, issued May 3, 1988 to Heaton, is for a woodworking apparatus that comprises a support table having a flat, circular table surface. The apparatus also includes a first power driven cutting tool mounted below the table surface having a spindle adapted to project upwardly through an orifice in the center of the table surface, and a second power driven cutting tool mounted off-center from the first cutting tool below the table surface and having a spindle adapted to project upwardly through an orifice in the table surface. A guide fence is mounted above said table surface on a chord thereof, means for adjusting said guide fence relative to said cutting tools radially of the circular table surface between a position substantially central of the table surface diametral thereof to a retracted chordal position; and means for adjusting said guide fence angularly about the table surface, whereby the effective distance between the two cutting tools can be selectively adjusted by radial and angular adjustment of the said guide fence. The means for adjusting the guide fence radially comprises a rearward extension forward on the guide fence centrally thereof, said rearward extension having a radial slot, and said means for adjusting the guide fence angularly about the table surface comprises a bracket having attachment means for securing the bracket to the table surface, said bracket having a radial recess for receiving the said rearward extension for sliding radial travel therein. Means are provided for selectively locking the rearward extension in said radial recess for radial adjustment of the guide fence over the circular table surface. The circular table surface preferably has a circular edge perimeter, the bracket is arcuate, and the attachment means secure the bracket to the table circular edge as a downwardly extending peripheral flange.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,082, issued Dec. 21, 1999 to Ruhlmann, provides a rotating tenon cutter having a wooden or aluminum body and a curved cutter blade positioned adjacent to a throat having a bell mouth with a matching curve. A cylindrical tenon is formed with an attractive shoulder that curves from the tenon to the largest cross-sectional dimension of the work piece on the same radius as the cutter blade. A bubble level vial in the body indicates when the axis of rotation (and axis of the tenon to be formed) is horizontal. The cutter blade is repositionable on the body so that the bevel is appropriately presented for sharpening using a drum sander while the face or a flat side of the tenon cutter body rests on a drill press table.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,574, issued Apr. 19, 1988 to Emmert, shows a router jig apparatus that includes a base portion, a router positioning portion, a workpiece orbiting portion and a workpiece positioning portion. The base portion includes a quadrangular frame section disposed generally horizontally and a supporting stand extending downwardly from the frame section. The router positioning portion includes a plate section slidably engageable with the frame section, the plate section includes a central first opening of a shape to pass a motor of an inverted router and retain a work surface surrounding a bit thereof. The workpiece orbiting portion includes a guide section disposed above and closely adjacent to the frame section, the guide section including a large circular second opening therein. A disc member is rotatably positioned within the guide section opening, generally in a common plane therewith, the disc member including a central third opening. The workpiece positioning portion includes a support section resting on the disc member and a horizontally pivotable section carried by the support section. An upstanding specimen holding section has its lower end affixed to the pivotable section on a free side thereof and extends upwardly therefrom with securing mechanism for fixing the inclination of the upstanding section and specimen retaining mechanism disposed along the length of the upstanding holding section.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,847, issued May 11, 1982 to King, Sr., claims a pair of routers that are serially mounted on a pivotable support on a cutting table such that the routers may be adjusted in unison relative to the table. In addition the routers are adjustable relative to each other in a seesaw manner about a central cutting axis so as to maintain the axis. The apparatus and process of the present invention is particularly useful for making the male and female cuts of a dovetail joint in a single operation without requiring any adjustment of the routers relative to each other after the initial positioning. Depending on the cutting tool employed, dovetails, splines, rabbet cuts, mortise and tenon joints and countless other cuts may be made.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,583, issued Aug. 12, 1997 to Heintzeman, describes a tenonizer apparatus that has a motor and a circular cutting blade assembly mounted on a pivotable platform. A radius shoulder support shaft is pivotably mounted perpendicular to the circular cutting blade. The operator pushes and rotates the log along the shafts to create the tenon. Only one tenon can be cut at a time. A minimal set up time is required to switch between tenon types. The pivotable platform allows variable length tenons to be cut. The apparatus is portable.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,149, issued Apr. 10, 1990 to Herenyi, discloses a new method for the production of furniture comprising the steps of providing tree trunks and branches; debarking, drying and cutting said tree trunks or branches to the desired size; producing tenons and mortises in respective ends of said cut tree trunks or branches, said tenons being sized to cooperatively engage said mortises; and assembling furniture from said cut tree trunks or branches by inserting said tenons into said mortises in order to fix respective tree trunks or branches to one another.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,832, issued Feb. 15, 1994 to Gibson, indicates a combination dovetail, mortise and tenon jig, that includes a base unit which is used as a means of supporting different templates thereon, for use in forming the necessary elements involved in both dovetail and mortise and tenon joinery, the common elements being useful for both and providing accurate and consistently formed parts which are intended to interengage and perform the functions required of dovetail and mortise and tenon joints.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,982, issued Apr. 2, 2002 to Nixon, Jr., puts forth a double mortising, tenoning and dovetailing wood working machine that includes a base member, a sliding member and locking members. The base member is mounted on a table. The sliding member and locking members serve to precisely locate the base member relative to a piece of wood stock. The base member can be located over a piece of wood stock, locked into place and have a tenon or tail cut on the stock. The base member can then be moved horizontally over the stock, locked into position and have a second tenon or tail cut on the stock. The stock is then removed and replaced with another piece of wood stock to receive the mortise or socket joints. Through the use of the locking members and the slide member the base member can be located over the stock in the exact location needed to cut the mortise or socket joints to allow for a precise double mortise-tenon or dovetail joint.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,160, issued Feb. 20, 1996 to McCracken, concerns a mortise and tenon generating system that has a removable tenon template which attaches to the work piece. A router utilizing a router bit with a bearing collar is guided so that the bearing collar circumferentially contacts a guide edge on the tenon template and machines the tenon out of the work piece. A router jig with a tilting table having a machining opening is provided for supporting the router and receiving the router bit. The router jig also includes a clamp assembly with a rotatable guide member for receiving the work piece. The tilting table and rotatable guide member allow the work piece to be oriented at a variety of angles with respect to the router bit, for the creation of angled and compound angled tenons and/or mortises.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,263, issued Jul. 3, 1990 to Wrightman, illustrates a machine for cutting logs to provide a dovetail log joint. The machine has a number of saw legs which are slidably mounted on carriages, some of which are movable in order to adjust the angle of inclination of the saw blades. This machine permits dovetail tenons to be formed at either end of a log to provide both inside and outside corner joints. All of the necessary cuts can be effected while the log is held in a fixed position, it is only necessary to move the log longitudinally of itself in order to form the tenons at opposite ends. C-clamps are also provided for applying pressure to the log joint during assembly of the joint.
The main problem with conventional tenon cutters is that power tenon cutters require a xc2xdxe2x80x3 drive drill and a vise. Tenon lengths are restricted to the size of the tenon cutter usually 5 to 6 inches. If tenon cutters are started in the wrong direction against wood ends they can kick away. Tenon cutters can also spin a piece of wood out of a vise causing injury to the user. Another problem with conventional tenon cutters are tenon machines are too expensive and cost from $2,900 to $5,265. Another problem with conventional tenon cutters are, that the Tenonizer is a tablesaw attachment that requires the user to buy a table saw plus the attachment. Another problem with conventional tenon cutters are router jigs limit tenon length and diameter.
While these devices may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they are not as suitable for making a hand-turned tenon on the end of a piece of wood that has a threaded groove.
In these respects, the tenon maker according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of making a hand-turned tenon on the end of a piece of wood that has a threaded groove.
The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new tenon maker that has many of the advantages of the tenon cutters mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new tenon maker which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art tenon cutters, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention generally comprises a stand made up of two channel shaped sides, a removable top that has holes drilled in it so a router with a router bit can be attached, and a removable wood guide having a front with two attached wood guide sides. The electric router is the power source for the cutter. The round nose bit, with a cutting diameter of. 1-xc2xdxe2x80x3, cutting radius of xc2xexe2x80x3, cutting length of 1xe2x80x3, shank diameter of. xc2xd, cuts wood ends. The top will be a flat material with holes that will support a router and attach to the sides. The two channel shaped sides will include holes for attaching a top, securing to a work bench and attaching wood guides. The wood guides have a front with the different diameter holes. The wood guide front attaches to two wood guide sides. The wood guide sides will be a flat material, each having holes and slot for attaching to wood guides and channel sides.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a tenon maker that will overcome the shortcomings of the prior art devices.
An object of the present invention is to provide a tenon maker for making a hand turned tenon on the end of a piece of wood that has a threaded groove.
Another object of the present invention is for making a tenon on the end of a piece of wood that can be any length or diameter.
Another object of the present invention is for utilizing the power of one or two routers.
Another object is to provide a tenon maker that will form different size cylindrical shaped tenons with threaded grooves on wood ends.
Another object is to provide a tenon maker that can be mounted over a table mounted router.
Another object is to provide a tenon maker where no vise is required.
Another object is to provide a tenon maker that allows the user to produce different variations of tenon diameters.
Another object is to provide a tenon maker that allows the user to produce different variations of tenon shapes using differently shaped router heads or bits, such as square shoulder tenons with a straight router bit and radius shoulder tenons with a round-nosed router bit, and chamfer (taper) shoulder tenons with a chamfer router bit.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objects and advantages are within the scope of the present invention.
To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated.